All For One
by Fi101
Summary: Tails tries to get over the grief of a terrible tragedy that's happened. He gets a request from a friend and an adventure unfolds...
1. Emotional Beginnings

**Chapter 1: Emotional Beginnings **

_This can't be…_

_It's completely unimaginable…_

_He was my best friend…_

_My only real friend…_

_Now he's gone…_

The lonely yellow fox sat alone in his lab in the centre of Station Square. Normally when he was here, he would be able to make any machine, vehicle or gadget that was needed or even came to mind. But today, he had no inspiration.

_It was my fault…_

_He could have been saved…_

_If only I'd have been faster…_

He began to weep. It seemed as if nobody could help him.

There was a knock at the door. Tails didn't answer.

"Tails? Tails! It's me Amy! I know you're upset and all but… I thought it might cheer you up if I visited you."

Tails still didn't answer the door. He was too upset. So much so that nothing could cheer him up.

"Tails, please answer! Nobody has seen you in weeks! We need to know you're OK! Please answer…"

Tails sighed.

"O.K. I'm coming"

Tails slowly stood up and dismally walked towards the door.

"Tails I am so glad to see you! Are you OK?"

She threw her arms around him. Tails stood looking at the floor. Amy took a step back and was silent. Tails looked up at Amy. This was the first time they had seen each other in a couple of months. Tails noticed that Amy looked older, almost more mature.

"Still depressed, huh?"

"… What? How can you not be depressed? The one and only Sonic the hedgehog has…" Tails' voice faltered.

"What… You think he's dead? Don't tell me my Sonic is dead! He's just… well… he's…" Amy's voice faltered also.

"Yeah Amy you're right. He's just missing in space and no one will ever find him again. Of course he's…" Tails' voice faltered again. It was almost as if he couldn't say it.

Maybe believing Sonic is alive would help him. He was sure nothing else could.

"OK Tails. You stay here and live in your own sorrow. Knuckles, Cream and I are going to going to go and look for him." Amy said strongly.

"What?" Tails was taken aback.

" How can you look for somebody lost in space? And even if you tried, how are you gonna get there?"

"Well… That's why I'm here…" Amy started to look a bit nervous.

"Knuckles asked me to come and ask you if you would help us get to the point where we lost him."

"But, how can I get there? You know what happened to my ship. The Solar Cyclone is beyond repair…"

"That's why we need you to build a new one…"

_What? They can't just come in here and tell you to build a ship to complete an impossible mission._

_But if it's true that Sonic is still alive then I guess it's worth a shot…_

"I'll think about it…"

"Thank you so much Tails!" She threw her arms around him again.

"I'm gonna go and tell Knuckles and Cream and you're gonna help us!"

"But I never…"

"Bye Tails! Thanks again!"

Tails sighed.

_Amy can be so hasty sometimes! Just like…_

He sighed again and returned to his bedroom to get some sleep.


	2. To build a spaceship

**Chapter 2: To build a spaceship**

_It can't be this hard…_

_I've built one before…_

_It's like there's something I had that I don't have now…_

_It's difficult to think when my mind is so distracted…_

Tails was sat at his desk in his lab. It had just gone 10pm. It was dark outside and Tails had one small lamp shone on his notes and blueprints. There were lots of spare parts lying around his lab. He had been working ever since the morning after he had spoken with Amy. Again he had seen no one since.  
There was a small short knock followed by an extremely hard knock. Tails was surprised and nearly fell off his chair.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!"

Tails swiftly walked over to the door. He opened the door and Knuckles barged in and gave Tails a very strong hug. Tails had never felt anything like it, he couldn't breathe.

"Tails! Boy am I glad to see you! I was starting to get worried about you!" Knuckles tightened his grip on Tails.

"_Knuckles, please, you're crushing me…" _

"Oh sorry pal! " Knuckles let go of Tails. "No harm done, eh?"

"I'm not so sure about that." Tails chuckled. Knuckles also chuckled and they both started to laugh.

"So," Knuckles continued. "How's the project coming along?"

"Well the structure seems to be working out well. The only thing I seem to be having problems with is fuel. The only sensible means of fuel seems to be 2 chaos emeralds."

"2?! But you do remember that 6 chaos emeralds were lost with…" Knuckles voice faltered.

"Which is why I'm having such problems…" Tails looked down at his feet. " I'm sorry Knuckles, but I don't think I can build the ship for you…"

Tails went very silent. He kicked his shoe on the floor in a nervous manner. Knuckles crossed his arms. He also didn't say anything. He was also trying to think of a solution.

"But Tails! You're the most clever person on this planet, in this universe! You must be able to think of something!"

"I'm sorry Knuckles but I'm stumped. Maybe we should start by finding that emerald. We had it when we crash landed in the Mystic Ruins. The explosion range was very large so it could be anywhere around."

" I'll go get Amy and we'll go look for that emerald. You can count on us Tails."

"Thank you Knuckles, I'll see you later!"

"See you soon Tails!"

_Who knew Knuckles could have become such a team player? Maybe he's making up for one team member we're missing…_

Tails closed the door and went back to working on ideas for the ship.


	3. It's right under your nose

**Chapter 3: It's right under your nose!**

"Knuckles, we have been trekking through this forest for hours! Are you sure we're close to the emerald?"

"Amy, calm down! We'll be there soon. I can feel it close by…"

Knuckles and Amy were walking up a hill in a forest in the mystic ruins, covered in trees, bushes and wildlife. It was sunset. The sky was a light pink colour and there was a long shadow in the forest. I was a beautiful sunset but Amy ignored it. She was having a hard time and was starting to get impatient.

"Knuckles, please can we stop? Just so we can eat something? I'm starving!"` Amy's eyes glistened at the thought of food.

" Well I don't know how that's possible because we don't have any food!" Amy's expression dropped at the comment. She was extremely disappointed. Amy started to slow down. Knuckles started to walk faster. Amy was too tired and couldn't keep up. "Amy, hurry! It's right around here!"

"Well I'm just gonna sit here. If you're so sure it's nearby, you can find it yourself!" Amy sat down on the floor in fatigue. She folded her arms and scowled at Knuckles and looked away.

"Well it doesn't matter if you help me or not, I can find it myself!" Amy could tell Knuckles was angry because his face was a brighter shade of red.

"Fine!" Amy replied. Knuckles walked away. Amy watched him leave and then looked at the ground in shame.

_Maybe I shouldn't have over reacted…_

_I should go and find him…_

Amy quickly stood up but when she took a step she tripped over.  
"Ow! What was that?" She turned back and saw the bright green glimmer of something in the ground. She picked it up. "Oh… Well that was convenient…"

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Origins: Chapter 1**

**"**Ready to go guys?" Sonic was sat at the front of the front of the Solar Cyclone Mk.I in the passenger seat, next to Tails who was tinkering with the control panel.

"We should be ready to go any minute now," Tails added. He didn't turn around once while he spoke. He was too busy. Nobody thought once at first that a structure that looked so small could be so spacious inside. The flight deck was a rounded area where the control panel was with many flashing lights. There were two seats where Sonic and Tails were sitting. Further back there were about 10 seats. Knuckles, Amy, Cream were sat in this area. Shadow was stood near the back against the wall.

"Of course! I was born ready!" Knuckles said with pride.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Amy said smiling.

"Erm… Mr Sonic? I can't quite get my seatbelt on." Cream was struggling with her seat belt. "Please, could you help me?"

"Hmph." Shadow said looking away. "Children…"

"It's OK, I'll help you Cream." Amy reached over to Cream seatbelt and pulled.

"Thank you, Amy." Cream said with a polite smile on her face.

"Ok , guys!" Tails announced. "Take off in 3…2…1…Blast off!" He hit a large red button in the centre of the control panel. The ship took off smoothly from Station Square. Soon, the ship was safely travelling through space.

"Alright! We'll be at the Ark soon!" Sonic shouted punching the air in front of him. "Eggman won't be able to stop us now…"


	4. Shadow of the Past

**Chapter 4: A Shadow of the Past**

Tails was sat in a huge ship in his garage. It was a bright red with 'Solar Cyclone Mk. II' painted on the side in yellow. He had a look of content on his face.

_I can't believe I actually managed to do this so quickly!_

_I wish Sonic was here to see this…_

Tails' expression instantly changed at the thought of Sonic.

_As long as I don't think about… him...I can't be put down._

_As long as I get on with my work, I'll be fine!_

_Well I can't continue until they get back. _

Tails hopped out of the Solar Cyclone and walked into the main building. He had been expecting Knuckles and Amy to be back a couple of hours ago. He sat on a large red reclining armchair that looked almost out of place.

_Well I guess all I can do until they get back is relax._

As soon as Tails got comfortable, there was a knock at the door. Tails reluctantly got up and went to answer. As he walked past the window he had to cover his eyes. The bright green glimmer of the emerald was too much.

_The emerald. They got it!_

Suddenly Tails had a lot more energy. He ran to the door and quickly opened.

"Yes, you got it! Well done guys!" Tails bounded up and down in front of Knuckles and Amy. They quickly came inside.

"Yep, we got it and it's all thanks to yours truly," Amy said proudly. "If you had left it to this knuckle head we never would have found it!"

"HEY! MAYBE IF YOU HADN'T BEEN SO GRUDGINGLY ANNOYING I WOULD HAVE SEEN IT!" Knuckles was so angry, Tails could imagine steam coming out of his ears.

"Hey, hey guys! Calm down!" Tails stood between them. "You both worked to together and that's what counts!"

"I guess," Knuckles and Amy said with the same look of displease on their face. "Well anyway, Tails have you thought of anyway to get around that second emerald?"

"Well… no not really," Tails said quietly looking down. "According to my calculations the only other thing with enough power would be to create chaos control with the one emerald we have ourselves!"

_Chaos Control… Chaos Control… Chaos Control… Shadow._

Tails instantly looked up. He thought about it again and then had the look of content on his face once again.

"You thought of something there, buddy?" Knuckles said after seeing Tails' expression.

"I think I just might have it. Who's the only person we know who can create chaos control within his own body?"

"Shadow." Amy said with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Shadow." Knuckles said looking very impressed at Tails.

"Shadow," Tails said, "Is correct." So the only thing we need to do get into space is find Shadow!

"But no-one has seen him since Sonic went missing…" Amy said.

"Yeah," Knuckles concurred, "and looking for Shadow is looking for a cure for Cancer!"

"Exactly," Tails said, "One day we will find it…"

"We should split up," Amy suggested. "I'll look in Sunset Hill and the Mushroom Hill Zone. Knuckles, you look in Metropolis and Angel Island. Tails, you search Route 99 and the Green Hill Zone.

"Amy…" Knuckles said in awe, "That might just be the smartest thing you've said all day!"

"That's a great idea Amy, but there's still a couple of areas we haven't covered…" Tails said.

"Steal my moment of glory, why don't you Tails?" Amy said with a scowl on her face. "Well… I could ask Cream to go and help us look in Seaside Hill and the Marble Garden Zone.

"We can't ask Cream to go and search two zones by herself!" Tails said looking surprised, "Vanilla would be so angry at us…"

"She'll be fine, Tails! I'm sure of it!" Amy winked at Tails.

"Yeah, Tails," Knuckles agreed, "As long as she's got Cheese with her, she will be safe."

"As long as you're sure…"

"OK!" Amy announced loudly, "Let's get started!" With that she dashed out and into the deep night.

"You know I wish Amy wasn't so hasty," Tails complained, "We've not even decided when and where we'll meet back. Hopefully she has her cell phone with her…"

"So… when and where are we meeting?" Knuckles asked.

"Well I guess if we meet back here in 3 days then we should be well on our way," Tails replied. And with that Knuckles glided away into the night. Tails locked up and flew away into the night.

Inside Tails workshop, noise could be heard from the ceiling. A large chunk of the ceiling fell off and a shadow glided down inside.

"_Hehehe, looks like nobody is in." _The mystery voice chuckled_, "I don't think the fox, the pink furball and that knucklehead will miss this emerald that much." _The mystery figure grabbed the emerald climbed up to the hole it entered through and glided away into the night.


	5. Route 99, Sunset Hill, Angel Island

**Chapter 5: Route 99, Sunset Hill, Angel Island**

_Well I think this is starting to become a hopeless case…  
_Tails was sat on bench by the side of the busy roads of Route 99. He had a map in his hand and was trying to work out the best way to be able to go everywhere. After a while he stood up and began to walk.  
_Well that map is not gonna get me anywhere so I may as well just search.  
_He ran around the busy streets tilting his head in all directions looking for any glimpse of Shadow.  
_  
Well, looks like I'm not gonna find him… I may aswell turn…  
_Just as Tails was about to give up he saw a black blur dash ahead of him.  
"Shadow?" Tails called. "Hey, Shadow! Wait up!  
Tails flew in pursuit of the black blur.

_Ugh… I've had enough…  
_Amy was sat down in the middle of the Sunset Hill Zone exhausted. She had already looked for hours.  
_Maybe running around in circles around the zone wasn't the best tactic.  
_She stood up again and walked towards one of the waterfalls.  
_Well at least the view is nice… Hey this would be a great spot for a picnic! I could probably get…  
_Amy looked down. She realised what she was gonna say and became more determined in her mission. She stood up to look around.  
After looking around for a while, she felt something on her back. Before she could turn around to see who or what it was, she had been pushed down the waterfall into the lake below….

_Okay… he's definitely not here. I've checked everywhere!  
_Knuckles was pacing about Angel Island. He knew he had checked everywhere because this was his home. He knew every nook and cranny of Angel Island.  
_Well, I may as well go and search Metropolis. It doesn't take long to get there from here… But while I'm here I may as well check if the Master Emerald is okay.  
_Knuckles turned and headed towards the area where the Master Emerald was.

Knuckles nearing the area. He was on hill.  
_Just to the top of this hill and I'll be able to see the Master Emerald.  
_Knuckles increased his pace. He got to the top. There was a small figure standing by the Master Emerald.  
"Hey!" Knuckles shouted. "Who are you?" He began to glide down towards the Master Emerald. As he got closer he could see that whoever it was had their hand against the Master Emerald. When he landed, Knuckles could see that it was a small black figure. It turned around.  
"Shadow?" Knuckles was sure it was Shadow. But as soon as Knuckles began to approach him, he dashed away. "Shadow! Wait! We need your help!" But it was too late. He was nowhere to be seen.  
_What would Shadow have been doing around here? And why was he touching the Master Emerald?  
_Knuckles looked at the large green Emerald.It shined but it wasn't quite as bright as normal. Knuckles was worried by this.  
_What has that creep done?  
_"You're gonna pay Shadow!" Knuckles shouted out loud. "I'll make you pay when I find you!"

"Amy screamed as she fell. The cliff she had been pushed off had a waterfall with a rocky lake at the bottom. She looked down and was even more terrified. As she fell she tried to take out her piko piko hammer. She barely managed to get it out and swing it into the wall before she landed. She hung on to it and jumped the rest of the way down.  
_Phew! That was close!  
_She looked up at the top of the cliff.  
_Maybe I can catch them if I climb back up…  
_She hit her hammer into the wall and jumped and then continued this until she got to the top of the cliff again. She looked around and no-one was there.  
_I better find whoever pushed me off that cliff… They got my dress wet!  
_Amy sluggishly walked off in the direction of the exit of the zone.


	6. Green Hill Zone, Seaside Hill

**Chapter 6: Green Hill Zone, Seaside Hill Zone**

Chasing after the black blur lead Tails directly into the Green Hill Zone.

_Where did Shadow go? I'm sure I saw him disappear somewhere around here…  
_

Tails landed to look around. He reached into his pocket and pulled out another map, this one of the Green Hill Zone.

_Hmm… It looks like the only place he can really hide is underneath one of the bridges.  
_

He started to run towards the bridge. After searching a few, he came to the last one, leading to the exit of the zone towards the Marble Zone. He stopped running.

_Looks like he has left… Well that was a waste then.  
_

He was about to turn back when he saw a black ball jump up from underneath the bridge. It landed and Tails could quite clearly see it was Shadow.

"Shadow! We've been looking all over for you! You see we need you to…" Before Tails could finish explaining, Shadow curled up into a ball and spin dashed, knocking Tails over. Tails turned round to look at Shadow. "What was that for?" Shadow gave Tails an angry look and dashed off again.

_Ugh… Just when I thought we had him he has to be all… mysterious like he always is. Well I may as well start heading back to Station Square…_

"Hmmm… Looks like we've been everywhere Cheese. Maybe we can get a better view if we climbed up on top of that big hill!" Cream with her Chao pet Cheese were travelling through the Seaside Hill Zone. They had had no luck so far.

"Humph… Looks like they need me again." Shadow was stood on a hill nearby. He had watched Cream walk by and had listened to her conversation again. Shadow jumped off the hill and dashed off towards Station Square.

Cream flew as high as she could but couldn't make it all the way to the top. She held on to the hill and climbed the rest of the way up. When she made it to the top she saw a large machine. From the machine a large claw fly towards her. She tried to scream but her screams were muffled. She heard a laughter coming towards her…

**Origins: Chapter 2**

"Okay! Let's go!" Sonic cheered loudly, unbuckling his belt. Tails had manoeuvred a smooth landing on the Space Colony Ark. Everybody was getting ready to get off the Solar Cyclone. It had been a smooth trip for all accept a worried Cream, who had another been on a space voyage.

"It'll be okay!" Amy had warned but Cream still wasn't so sure. Sonic was the first to get off.

"Always so hasty…" Tails had commented. Sonic was quickly pursued by Amy and soon everybody was off the ship. After dashing in the opposite direction of the Solar Cyclone, Sonic stopped.

"So… Any idea what we're up against, Tails?" He asked.

"Not a clue," Tails answered. "But I'm guessing it's going to be quite dangerous because Dr. Eggman has been very interested in Chaos energy recently…" Tails looked around. "Any sign of him?"

"Not that I can see," Sonic answered. He was about to continue running before Tails stopped him.

"Maybe we should do a bit of research inside before we go looking for him." Tails suggested.

"Okay, you guys go. I have a bad feeling about something around here…"

"Okay, come on guys." Tails began to walk away and the others followed, except Amy.

"Maybe I should stay with Sonic! Just to keep him safe…" She stroked his shoulder.

"Erm… I don't think it's very safe." Tails replied. "You should stay with us. Sonic can take care of himself."

"Fine…" Amy followed reluctantly.


	7. Back to the Workshop

**Chapter 7: Back to the Workshop**

It was about 7pm, two days after the mission had been set. The sun was setting in Station Square and couples could be seen holding hands watching the sunset.  
Tails was the first to arrive back. He opened up the workshop. While looking around to make sure nothing was different, he noticed the large hole in the ceiling._  
Woah! Where did that come from? Someone must have broken in…  
_He looked around to see if anything was missing but everything seemed to be untouched. Tails started to bring together the materials he needed to fix the ceiling.

About 45 minutes later, Tails had the ceiling fixed and Knuckles had arrived. Straight away, he started to tell Tails about what had happened.

"Arrgh!" Knuckles shouted and punched the wall.

"Careful! I don't want anymore holes…" Knuckles ignored this and continued telling Tails about the situation.

"That Shadow… He's gotta pay! I saw him stealing energy from the Master Emerald!"  
"Really?" Tails said surprised. "I didn't know Shadow could do that!"

"Yeah! I was surprised too! Just when we thought we'd finally got Shadow on our side…"

"Hold on… You saw Shadow?" Tails realised the difficulty of both their situations being true. "But… I saw Shadow! He went through Route 99 into the Green Hill Zone. I tried to talk to him but he attacked me…"

"Seriously? It's not like Shadow can be in more than one place at the same time… Is it?"

"I don't think that's possible…" Tails was suddenly interrupted by a large booming voice.

"_KNUCKLES!_" Amy walked through the door, her dress soaking wet, scowling at Knuckles.  
"I don't appreciate you trying to get back at me for what happened at the Mystic Ruins!" She said as she walked towards him.

"What? What did I do? And whatever it was I can't have done it!" Tails could see the anger beginning to well up in his face.

"You followed me the Sunset Hill Zone and then pushed me off a cliff into a lake! And now I'm soaking wet!"

"Here, Amy, let me get you a towel." Tails suggested. He walked off towards the back of the workshop. He could still here Knuckles and Amy arguing about what had happened. He came back and gave the towel to Amy. She started to dry off.

"It's not possible that I pushed you off a cliff because I was chasing Shadow on Angel Island!"

"Don't lie Knuckles. There was nobody who had a reason to push me off cliff… EXCEPT YOU!"

"HEY LISTEN HERE!" Knuckles shouted. Tails once again interrupted the argument between them.

"Guys, stop! There's no reason for you to argue! Amy, Knuckles cannot have pushed you off a cliff because he was on Angel Island. He told me about it."

"Thanks for backing me up there, Tails." Knuckles smiled at Tails. Amy scowled at him.

"But Knuckles, there's no reason for you to get angry. Amy could have easily made the mistake."  
Knuckles scowled at Amy. Amy scowled back.

"Okay, fine. So Knuckles didn't push me off the cliff," Amy said passing the towel back to Tails. "Then who did?"

"I'm not so sure myself Amy," Tails answered. "But maybe we should sort out our problem first."

"Hmph. Is it more important?" Amy said looking unimpressed. "Than _my_ dress getting wet?"

"Well I think so because it's about Shadow." Tails answered.

"_Oh really?" _ A voice sounded from overhead. "_Seems like everybody is looking for me again,_" Tails, Knuckles and Amy looked up and saw Shadow sat on one of the railings with his arms folded and his eyes closed. He jumped down next to them.

"Shadow!" Tails said surprised. "How long have you been here?"

"Oh, not long. Only a couple of minutes,"

"Hey listen you creep!" Knuckles started to get angry straight away. "I saw you at Angel Island stealing energy from the Master Emerald. You better tell me why or I'm gonna…" Knuckles brandished his fists.

"I think you must be mistaken. What need would I have for the Master Emerald?"

"I dunno…" Knuckles said backing down. "But I know what I saw, and it's my duty to punish you!"

"Hmph... I'd expect the guardian of the Master Emerald to have better eyesight." Knuckles' face started to go redder instantly.

"Shadow, I saw you in the Green Hill Zone." Tails began to explain. "But when I tried to talk to you, you attacked me!"

"What need would I have to go to the Green Hill Zone?" Shadow said once again. "And what reason would I have to attack you?"

"I'm not sure… But you were there!"

"Hmph…" Shadow repeated. "The only reason I'm here is because I heard that you needed my help while I was in Seaside Hill."

"Seaside Hill? That's where we asked Cream to go." Amy said. "Speaking of whom, where is she?"

"The rabbit girl? She wasn't far behind me."

"I'm sure she'll be back soon." Tails assured.

"So, what do you want?" Shadow asked.

"Oh yeah! We need you to create Chaos Control with the emerald we have to power our ship so we can go to where the Ark was and is to find Sonic!" Tails explained.

"What makes you think that I should help you?" Shadow asked cheekily.

"Well… Erm…" Tails struggled to think of answer.

"Shadow just help us! What harm is it gonna do you?" Knuckles came out with the easiest answer. "And if you don't I'll make sure it _will_ harm you!"

"Tch… Threats aren't going to change my mind." Knuckles' face went even redder.

"Shadow…" Amy put her hand on his shoulder. "We all wanna see Sonic again. He's important to all of us. He's Tails' best friend. He's yours' and Knuckles' rival. And he's my…" Tails could see tears welling up in her eyes. "Sonikku. Please help us." Shadow was silent. "And I'm sure Maria would want you to help us solve this mystery." Shadow was still silent.

"I guess…" Shadow said after a long pause.

"Thank you Shadow!" Amy said happily.

"Thank you so much," Tails also said. Knuckles muttered a 'thanks' and then looked away.

"So… Where's the emerald?" Shadow asked.

"Oh right. It's over here somewhere…" Tails walked over to his desk to look for the emerald. "Erm… I can't find it! Where has it gone?"

"_Looking for this?_" A voice sounded from outside. Tails and the others could see a hand in a white glove holding the emerald very gracefully.

"Who are you?" Tails asked. The mystery figure stepped through. Rouge stood with the emerald held in front of her. She wore her regular attire and had a smirk on her face.

"Rouge, we really need the emerald!" Amy told Rouge.

"Well I don't care!" Rouge retorted. "If I deliver this emerald to the President, I will finally be promoted to Senior Co-oridnator. I'll be the best treasure hunter known to man."

"Not if I can do anything about it." Knuckles said stepping forward.

"Well if you want to stop me, you'll have to catch me first!" Rouge said turning and gliding away. Knuckles looked as if he was about to burst.

"That bat girl! This is low. Even for her!" Knuckles said, about to leave the workshop.

"Wait!" Tails shouted after him. Knuckles turned back.

"Why? If I can catch her, we'll have the emerald back!"

"But we may have some more information about why she and the Government need it from Cream. We should wait until she gets…" Tails was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. He picked it up.

"Hello?"

"_The rabbit girl is with me._" The voice said on the other side of the phone.

"What? How did you get Cream? Who is this?" Tails asked worriedly.

"_If you want to see her again, bring all the information you have about the two Chaos/Sol incidents to me at the Altitude Limit Zone._" Tails began to recognise the voice.

"Eggman? But… that's not possible… and," The phone call was ended. "How could Eggman still be here?"

"Yeah, he was with Sonic when…" Amy's voice faltered.

"Why would he want information on the Chaos/Sol incidents?" Knuckles tried hard to think about the situation. Shadow stood back and watched the other three try to figure it out.

"Well maybe we can find out if we go to the Altitude Limit Zone." Tails concluded.

"But if we don't attempt to catch Rouge now then we might not be able to find her again and she may have already completed her mission." Knuckles added.

"Here's an idea. How 'bout you and Shadow go and catch Rouge since you're faster. Tails and I will meet Eggman, or whoever it is at the Altitude Limit Zone."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Knuckles replied.

"So do you happen to know where Rouge may have gone?" Shadow asked.

"Well…" Tails moved to a computer on his desk. He began to type rapidly. "It seems that the President is making a visit to Prison Island, so maybe you should try and make your way to the Metal Harbour, and intercept their ship there."

"Okay, we'll meet back here in Station Square as soon as each of our missions is complete." Amy decided. Shadow and Knuckles left.

"Come on Tails. Let's go!" Amy hurried.

"Let's wait a bit, Amy. We should prepare. It's a very long and difficult trip to the Altitude Limit Zone.


	8. Friend or Foe?

**Chapter 8: Friend or Foe?**

It was about midday. Knuckles and Shadow were travelling through the White Jungle Zone, attempting to make their way to the Metal Harbour, from where they could easily access Prison Island. The shade of green that had always been there prevailed. The colour of the leaves glistened in the sunlight. However Shadow could only barely remember the area, and so the beautiful scenery did not have an impact on him. They had run most of the way but Knuckles wasn't quite as able as Shadow.  
"I may just leave you behind if you don't hurry up," Shadow said rudely as Knuckles was trying to catch his breath.

"Well maybe you should slow down a bit!" Knuckles panted. " I think we're close," He said standing upright. He climbed a tree and surveyed the area. "Yeah, we're definitely close. I can see the harbour from here."

"Okay," Shadow said, dashing away. Knuckles quickly jumped from the tree.

"HEY! WAIT UP!" Knuckles shouted chasing after him.

"HEY! WAIT UP!" Amy shouted after Tails. He had flown up the hill towards his old workshop in the Mystic Ruins, leaving Amy behind. She chased after him. Tails landed in front of the workshop and looked for a key to get in from his pocket. While he was fumbling, Amy caught up.

"I don't appreciate it if you leave me behind like that. We can't all fly." Amy snapped.

"Sorry, but we need to get to the Altitude Limit Zone as fast as possible. Who knows what 'Eggman' is doing with Cream!" He managed to pull the right key out of his pocket. He put into the hole, turned it and pulled the large door up. There sat the Tornado, Tails' pride and joy. He had built it when he was only 5yrs old. It's red paint and 'Tornado' logo had started to fade a little because he hadn't used it in while. However, he knew the engine would still work unless the whole plane was destroyed. "Okay, let's quickly get in." They got on and Tails started the engine. The propellers began to spin rapidly. The plane steadily moved along the runway and took off.

"I just hope Cream is okay." Amy said.

"It'll be fine." Tails assured. "We'll find her."

"It'll be fine. We'll find her." Shadow assured. They had arrived at the harbour. It wasn't a very busy day at the harbour and so no ships were around.

"Hmm… No ships seem to be coming near, and there's none docked." Knuckles said looking around. "Maybe the ship has already been and gone and the President has already gone to Prison Island." Knuckles began to think deeper. "Maybe not. Maybe they're in the port centre. Can you check there, Shadow?"

"Fine," Shadow replied. He began to walk to a large building in the centre of the harbour. Before he reached the door, he felt two hands grab and shoulders. He was dragged into a nearby alley. Rouge walked in front of him.

"Shadow, why are you working with these people?" She asked. Shadow was silent. "You don't know, huh? Well if you worked with me, at least you know you had the President on your side. You never know what these 'children' get up to."

"Well…" Shadow began to speak. "It's something personal to me. I'm sorry Rouge. Please give me that emerald."

"Fine," She said. "If you're not going to work with me, you're not going to see the emerald." She quickly ducked into another, darker alleyway among multiple dustbins. Shadow attempted to chase after her, but could no longer find her. Shadow quickly dashed back to Knuckles.

"Rouge is heading to Prison Island now. We should go after her." Shadow explained.

"We better hurry then." Knuckles said.


	9. Whirlwind of Disaster

**Chapter 9: Whirlwind of Disaster**

The Tornado was sailing through the skies, safely carrying Tails and Amy. The skies were a clear, sky blue without a cloud in sight. It was the perfect day to fly. Tails was expertly manoeuvring the biplane and Amy was sitting patiently behind. This wasn't usual for Amy, but she was too busy worrying about Cream. She didn't stop worrying, no matter how many times Tails tried to reassure her.

A soft whistle could be heard from the trees below as they began to approach the Leaf Storm Zone. The Tornado's engine began to cough and splutter.

"That doesn't sound normal," Tails said, confused at the problem.

"Oh no!" Amy screamed. "We're gonna crash!"

"It's fine Amy, you're just being paranoid." As Tails said this, his plane began to dip dramatically. Amy screamed again. "I don't understand!" Tails had to shout particularly loud over the noise of the plane. "The engine was fine when we took off!" He attempted to get back into a safer flying position and altitude by pushing many buttons and pulling many knobs and levers.  
The near-crashing plane came into a wide green plain with a small building that looked like it hadn't been used for a few years. Tails' mistakenly put the Tornado into a nose dive toward the ground. They were falling at a very high speed. Amy screamed even louder…

Tails' attempted to collect the debris of the Tornado around the field. Amy could see the tears welling up in his eyes.  
_'He's only young… _' she said to herself.  
She was sat, clutching her knee. She had a large gash from the impact of the crash. She carefully stood up and walked towards Tails.

"Tails…" Amy put her hand on his shoulder.

"I don't understand," He said "We were fine at take-off. And we were flying perfectly for a long time! But now… this." He fell to his knees, his hands covering his face. Amy could hear him sniffling.

"It's okay Tails. Everybody can attempt to build you a new plane. But what's important now is that we save Cream and find out what 'Eggman' is up to."

"You don't understand." Tails looked at Amy. He had tears in his eyes and rolling down his face. "That plane meant everything to me. And without it we can't get to the Altitude Limit Zone. It's too high up. And Station Square is hundreds of miles from here. We're stranded."

"Oh, Tails." Amy didn't know how to respond. She gave him a hug. "Hey, maybe we should see if there is anybody in that building over there. Maybe they can help us." She started to walk in the direction of the building. Tails began to follow, with as many pieces of the Tornado as he could carry.

After walking for a while, Amy fell to the ground, clutching her knee.  
"I don't think I can walk anymore."

"Are you okay?" Tails had even thought to look at it before. He had been too interested in what was left of the Tornado. "It's quite bad. I'll go over there and see if they have a bandage for you." He quickly spun his twin tails, flying towards the building. It was a small, shabby looking single story building. The small number of windows that it had were boarded up. It had a small chimney. On the far side there was a metal door. Tails knocked. There was no answer. He pushed on the door handle and it opened. He looked inside. "Amy…"

"Yeah Tails?" She answered, trying to get up so she could see inside the building.

"This is my old workshop." Tails replied.

Amy was sitting on a chair with a bandage on her wound, watching Tails move swiftly around the single-roomed workshop, picking up spare parts and attempting to put them together. The room design was very basic. The walls were made of brick, inside and out. There were tables lining the room, most of which were clear except for a couple that had various papers and machinery on them. There was also a very outdated computer that Tails could no longer find use for.

"Wow! What are the odds that we crash right next to this place?" Tails had cheered up a lot.

"How long have you had this place?" Amy asked.

"I built it only a couple of years ago. But Sonic and I decided that it was too far to keep coming back to." Tails continued to move around the room collecting parts. After a while, of watching Tails walk back and forwards across the room, Amy began to speak again.  
"Do you have enough parts to build another plane?"  
"It's more than enough! Enough to build two, or even three!" Tails continued to move around the room, collecting and fitting parts together.  
After collecting as many useful parts together as he could, he stopped.

"Oh no…" He said.

"What's wrong?" Amy said.

"I've built all of this. But I don't even have an engine…"

_Hmmm… It could well be worth a shot…_

"Amy do you think you could do me a favour?" Tails asked, sitting down next to her.

"Erm, yeah, sure I guess." She replied.

"When Black Doom was around, I crashed a prototype Tornado III in the Circus Park. If you can get there and take the engine out of the rubble, then I should be able to finish it, allowing us to be able to travel to the Altitude Limit Zone. You think you can manage it?" Tails didn't want to annoy her, so he said his words carefully.

"Erm…" Amy thought about it first. She didn't want anything to go wrong on the journey. "Well it's important so I'll try. But I'll just come back if I can't make it."

"Thanks Amy, I'm sure you'll succeed."


End file.
